In 1850, the Free Soil Party was formed to organize the more radical members of the Whigs and Democrats. Wikipedia.com tells readers that the party leadership consisted mostly of anti-slavery members who opposed expansion of slavery within the U. S. Good intentions, no doubt about it, but this noble third party practically fell apart about a year after it was formed....
It could very well be that one of the “worst laws in the history of this country” is not what some might imagine. Take the Fugitive Slave Laws, for example. Slavery was bad enough, our entire economy was based on enslaved human labor. During this time, while some in government worked for a reasoned and compassionate solution to an obvious moral crisis, there were plenty of people in government who could not see any other way to realize economic prosperity for the country. Ending slavery meant, to them, the complete disruption of a booming economy, a growing national wealth, and a steady increase in power over England. If we took away the foundation of this economy, what in the world would save us from… disaster!?...
